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Belly Dance (Raks Sharki)

I got bored this afternoon with nothing much to do so I decided to try out something new.  I had several things in mind early today but I ended up fascinated with the idea of belly dancing. To cut the story short, there I was, dropping my hips, circling it, rolling it and shaking my thing like I've never done before. Funny, I thought -- I didn't realize I'd enjoy it that much.

Raks Sharki, which is commonly called belly dancing, is a form of dance that is becoming quite popular these days. Many are familiar with it yet few understand the effects it has on the human body. It is based on movements that come naturally to the female form. Though it is called belly dance, I realized that it involves much more than the belly. I was really sweating the whole time. It was a complete form of exercise that can truly benefit many parts of the body. Furthermore, studies show that belly dancing has the following benefits:

• It can improve one's posture and muscle toning.
• It can also serve as a healthy way to lose weight since we can burn up to 300 calories per hour.
• It also helps in preparation for child birth
• Aids stress reduction, and a whole lot more.

With all the things mentioned, I guess Belly Dancing or Raks sharki is truly a fun and healthy way to exercise...

Stress Management

Most of the time it appears to us that there is nothing much that we can do with the stressors that we encounter in life. Everyday, we are bombarded with different scenarios or stimuli that might threaten and disrupt our smooth sailing lives. Problems with family, career, and finances won't simply stop coming and may even become too demanding of us. Human as we are, it is normal to feel tensed, anxious, angry, exasperated, and the like when faced with difficult situations. However, despite every negative effect these things have on us, we should not fail to realize that we have a lot more control of these things than we really think. Realizing that there is something that we can do to alter these unwanted circumstances is the first step of managing stress. 

Stress management is being able to maintain control when situations, people, and events make excessive demands. With this, many people would resort to different strategies and techniques to cope up with stress. Taking time to relax for example is one of the things we can do to save ourselves from a very stressful incident. Meditation and deep breathing exercises have also proven to help clear the mind of disturbing thoughts. In addition, taking a short trip or a vacation would also allow us to escape our routinary lives. Getting enough sleep can also be considered another management strategy since the lack of it would only aggravate stress. 

Moreover, being able to accept and realize a stressful event and how we got ourselves into it is a powerful technique in gaining control over stress. In this way we are removing the blame from any external factor and would therefor allow ourselves to realize that we are responsible for the things that happen to us. Realizing this fact would then lead us to take action of the situation and think of ways to get ourselves out of it. Lastly, changing  our thoughts would surely help us evade and transform a negative event to a positive one. The more we think in negative ways the deeper our suffering becomes. In contrast, if we view a failure as a challenge, not only did it make the rejecting incident a good stressor but also directed us to take action and manage the situation. 

Life Lessons...

Here are a couple of life lessons that you might want to read. I have been feeling down lately for reasons that I don't even know why. It seems that there are some things that I need to do, yet I still can't figure out what these things are. As I was surfing the web, I came across this site. I'm reposting it here just in case it might help anybody to make sense of his/her life.

I've learned that you cannot make someone love you.  All you can do is be someone who can be loved.  The rest is up to them.

I've learned that no matter how much I care some people just don't care back.

I've learned that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but whom you have in your life that counts.

I've learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I've learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I've learned that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I've learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I've learned that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others.  Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I've learned that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other.   And, just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I’ve learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I’ve learned that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt, and you will hurt in the process.

I've learned that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish.  Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.

I've learned that heroes are people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I’ve learned that you can keep going long after you can’t.

source: http://www.westhartfordcounselingcenter.com/lessons.htm

When Nature Strikes!

Life is a precious gift from God that’s why we must make the most of it all the time and live each day as if it were our last. However, natural calamities and other catastrophic events, can easily take away god’s gift of life to mankind. 

Just recently, the rest of the world witnessed a frightening earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9  followed by a deadly 23 foot tsunami hit Tokyo Japan on the 11^th of March. It was a tragic incident which caused many people’s world to come crumbling down and left many dreams shattered, families broken, and taken innocent lives of many.  Video footage showed  giant waves sweeping  away cars, homes, people, and buildings, leaving a path of death and desolation. Sadly, we will never really know what the future holds for all of us and a single life may perish in just a blink of an eye. 

It’s horrible, isn’t it? May we take time to ponder on these things. May we always let the people we care about how much we love them for we may never have the chance or opportunity to tell them anymore. Let’s show them how important they are in our own simple ways. Let us learn to let go of our pride, reconcile with ourselves, and with the people whom we have come in conflict with in the past. Let us keep in mind that life is too short to spend it hating others and making them miserable.

saying I LOVE YOU...

Saying I love you is the best way to express your love to your friends, families, and to your romantic partners. It is amazing how these simple three words could change one's life. So, be careful in using this line to woe somebody. Never ever say it when you don't really mean it.

Here's how to say I Love You in 100 languages:

• English - I love you
• Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief
• Albanian - Te dua
• Arabic - Ana behibak (to male)
• Arabic - Ana behibek (to female)
• Armenian - Yes kez sirumen
• Bambara - M'bi fe
• Bangla - Aamee tuma ke bhalo aashi
• Belarusian - Ya tabe kahayu
• Bisaya - Nahigugma ako kanimo
• Bulgarian - Obicham te
• Cambodian - Soro lahn nhee ah
• Cantonese Chinese - Ngo oiy ney a
• Catalan - T'estimo
• Cheyenne - Ne mohotatse
• Chichewa - Ndimakukonda
• Corsican - Ti tengu caru (to male)
• Creol - Mi aime jou
• Croatian - Volim te
• Czech - Miluji te
• Danish - Jeg Elsker Dig
• Dutch - Ik hou van jou
• Esperanto - Mi amas vin
• Estonian - Ma armastan sind
• Ethiopian - Afgreki'
• Faroese - Eg elski teg
• Farsi - Doset daram
• Filipino - Mahal kita
• Finnish - Mina rakastan sinua
• French - Je t'aime, Je t'adore
• Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort
• Georgian - Mikvarhar
• German - Ich liebe dich
• Greek - S'agapo
• Gujarati - Hoo thunay prem karoo choo
• Hiligaynon - Palangga ko ikaw
• Hawaiian - Aloha wau ia oi
• Hebrew - Ani ohev otah (to female)
• Hebrew - Ani ohev et otha (to male)
• Hiligaynon - Guina higugma ko ikaw
• Hindi - Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hae
• Hmong - Kuv hlub koj
• Hopi - Nu' umi unangwa'ta
• Hungarian - Szeretlek
• Icelandic - Eg elska tig
• Ilonggo - Palangga ko ikaw
• Indonesian - Saya cinta padamu
• Inuit - Negligevapse
• Irish - Taim i' ngra leat
• Italian - Ti amo
• Japanese - Aishiteru
• Kannada - Naanu ninna preetisuttene
• Kapampangan - Kaluguran daka
• Kiswahili - Nakupenda
• Konkani - Tu magel moga cho
• Korean - Sarang Heyo
• Latin - Te amo
• Latvian - Es tevi miilu
• Lebanese - Bahibak
• Lithuanian - Tave myliu
• Malay - Saya cintakan mu / Aku cinta padamu
• Malayalam - Njan Ninne Premikunnu
• Mandarin Chinese - Wo ai ni
• Marathi - Me tula prem karto
• Mohawk - Kanbhik
• Moroccan - Ana moajaba bik
• Nahuatl - Ni mits neki
• Navaho - Ayor anosh'ni
• Norwegian - Jeg Elsker Deg
• Pandacan - Syota na kita!!
• Pangasinan - Inaru Taka
• Papiamento - Mi ta stimabo
• Persian - Doo-set daaram
• Pig Latin - Iay ovlay ouyay
• Polish - Kocham Ciebie
• Portuguese - Eu te amo
• Romanian - Te iubesc
• Russian - Ya tebya liubliu
• Scot Gaelic - Tha gra'dh agam ort
• Serbian - Volim te
• Setswana - Ke a go rata
• Sign Language - ,\,,/ (represents position of fingers when signing'I Love You')
• Sindhi - Maa tokhe pyar kendo ahyan
• Sioux - Techihhila
• Slovak - Lu`bim ta
• Slovenian - Ljubim te
• Spanish - Te quiero / Te amo
• Swahili - Ninapenda wewe
• Swedish - Jag alskar dig
• Swiss-German - Ich lieb Di
• Tagalog - Mahal kita
• Taiwanese - Wa ga ei li
• Tahitian - Ua Here Vau Ia Oe
• Tamil - Nan unnai kathalikaraen
• Telugu - Nenu ninnu premistunnanu
• Thai - Chan rak khun (to male)
• Thai - Phom rak khun (to female)
• Turkish - Seni Seviyorum
• Ukrainian - Ya tebe kahayu
• Urdu - mai aap say pyaar karta hoo
• Vietnamese - Anh ye^u em (to female)
• Vietnamese - Em ye^u anh (to male)
• Welsh - 'Rwy'n dy garu
• Yiddish - Ikh hob dikh
• Yoruba - Mo ni fe 

Sleep Disorders

Sleeping is essential to humanity. Every body needs to have enough sleep to allow our bodies to rejuvenate and regain the energy that we have lost from our day to day activities. It is said that we need to have at least 7-8 hours of sleep a day to achieve the optimum benefits of sleeping as well as for health reasons. However, there are a lot of restricting factors that may hinder this. Stimulants, stressors, sleeping habits, lifestyle, and even our nature of work can disrupt our sleeping patterns thus, causing some people to develop certain sleep disorders. I have listed some of these interesting disorders below:

1. Primary Insomnia – this is a common or familiar disorder. Oftentimes, it is described as the difficulty of initiating or maintaining sleep. People with insomnia usually report difficulty falling asleep for hours and intermittent wakefulness during the night. The longer they lie in bed unable to go to sleep, the more distressed and aroused they become which makes it even more difficult for them to fall asleep. To be diagnosed with primary insomnia, you must have the symptoms for at least one month, and the sleep disturbance should not be related to a mental disorder, medical condition, or to substance use. 
   
   
2. Primary Hypersomnia – this is another disorder which is basically the opposite of insomnia. People with this condition are chronically sleeps and may sleep 12 hours or more at a stretch and still wake up sleepy. They can easily fall asleep wherever they are especially if the environment is not that stimulating.
   
   
3. Narcolepsy – is another interesting disorder that involves irresistible sleep attacks. To be diagnosed with this disturbance, one must experience the sleep attacks for at least 3 months. A person who has this condition may suddenly fall asleep while doing something like eating, walking, driving, or even in the middle of a conversation. These sleep episodes generally lasts 10-20 minutes up to an hour. 
   
   
4. Sleep Apnea – this is another common breathing-related sleep disorder. Those who have sleep apnea typically snores loudly. They would then go silent and do not breathe for several seconds at a time, and then gasps for air. Apnea is generally common to overweight people, middle-aged men, and pre-pubertal children with large tonsils.
   
   
5. Sleep Walking – this is a parasomnia described as the repeated episodes of rising from the bed during sleep and walking about. On awakening, the person has amnesia for the episode and would probably experience a short period of confusion and disorientation.

Note:

Sleep disorders, particularly insomnia can actually be treated with a variety of drugs or through behavioral, and cognitive-behavioral therapies that change sleep related behavior and thinking patterns.

Rest Day . . .

All work and no play will make Jack a dull boy. This is a simple proverb which simply implies that we also need to take a break or a time off from our duties and responsibilities. Working our asses off the whole time is not going to be beneficial to our welfare nor the other way around. As they say, the key to everything is moderation. Therefore, there has to be balance in everything that we do.

I religiously go to work from Mondays to Fridays and I always try to lavishly enjoy my rest days on Saturdays and Sundays – and yesterday was just one of those days. I started the day a bit stressed out from work. It was a good thing that my loving partner and “bestest” best friend in the world was there to cheer me up. It was 9 o’clock in the morning when he declared his month long birthday celebration which he officially started yesterday. Funny, I thought. But I was convinced so we headed straight to the mall (SM) and shared a hearty breakfast together. We then decided on what movie to watch. As always, I won and got him into watching “Unknown” with me which starred Liam Neeson. The film was great. I love the storyline, the twist, and everything about it. We then gave ourselves another treat to satisfy our cravings for triple cheese superfries and spudle ice cream roll. When we finished eating, I still wanted to go on karaoke with him but I know he still needs to go somewhere else. I know he was tired, and so am I so we needed to go. I was probably exhausted then coz when I got home, I climbed to bed and slept the night till morning without even having dinner. It was really fun, thanks to my ever loyal partner.

Today is another Sunday morning, only it is not that sunny. When I woke up, the sky has been dark and cloudy with raindrops continuously falling on the rooftops. We’ll probably go to mass later when it stops raining that’s why I’m stuck here writing this blog. Anyway, the day has just started I just hope we will also get to enjoy the most of it despite the rain and the not so good weather.

Friendship

I have just finished watching Mean Girls 2 today and pondered about it for quite awhile. I admit it was kind of mediocre compared to the first Mean Girls movie which starred Lindsay Lohan. The Plastics were not that pretty, and the clothes were not that fancy and stunning as I have expected. But there was something about the movie that I really like -- that is, the classic lesson that true friendship is not bought. I know its cheesy but it truly is something that you cannot just buy, you need to plant it. 

In life, you will get to meet a lot of people. Many of them would just come and go, while only a chosen few would greatly play a significant part in your life. Many would say choose your friends wisely for they will reflect who you are, with which I totally disagree. Genuine friendship is not just all about the similarities between you and your friends. You'll know when its true if it does not discriminate despite the obvious differences. It accepts the person for simply being who they are without attempting to change him or her to become one of them.

Through the years, I am blessed to have found wonderful people who showed me what friendship really is all about. In spite of our opposing views and personalities, we managed to remain friends all this time. We may not see each other that often yet we never fail to make time for each other. They say  friendship is like the wind, you may not always see it, but you sure can feel it!

Valentines Day

February is the time of the year when we get to see more beautiful flowers, chocolates, and other yummy treats wherever we may go. It has been a tradition all over the world to celebrate and express our love for one another on this special love month. Valentine's day which is an annual celebration is held specifically on the 14th of this month. Lovers would showcase their love in the form of romantic dinner dates and quite expensive presents. 

However, did you ever wonder how it all began? Well, I did. Who would have thought that this can be traced back to the early medieval period. This romantic and intimate celebration turned out to have started to be religious in nature. St. Valentine was believed to be a priest who was martyred back in Rome. Historical facts reveal that there was no romantic element present in his early biographies to start with. The question of how his name was associated with romantic love might still be a mystery until now. Some sources would say that at one point when marriage was somewhat prohibited, St. Valentine would secretly perform marriage ceremonies which caused his imprisonment. Before he was beheaded, they said he himself made the very first valentine card addressed to a young woman whom he loved. 

At present, though we may not have enough facts to rely on how this special day really started, I am just thankful  they actually came up with this special occasion that is meant for love and for love alone.  

Happy Heart's Day everyone!